Page 78 of Betting on the Best Friend
I already have one of each
Was thinking more like fireman or astronaut
Why can I easily see you doing both of those?
I smile as I slide my phone in my pocket. This feels like the first normal conversation we’ve had since the Treehouse. It’s still going to take time, but I’m not going to put any pressure on how many days this will take before we can hang out like before.
Almost like before, anyway.
Madison, agent of chaos, calls the next day to speed up my timeline drastically as I’m driving home from work.
Before I can even ask what’s up, she’s half wailing, half cajoling. “I have a massive disaster on my hands, and I need you to bail me out!”
“If I can,” I say. “What do you need?” Specifically, what does she need from me that Oliver or her roommates can’t help her with?
“Tonight is my last chance to set up Ruby, and I know this is awkward, but I can’t do it, and I need you to do it.”
Thisof all things? I’d take each problematic point in order, but I hear noise in the background, hospital noise, and her voice is tight with stress. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just . . . ugh. Job and life and school and something came up.”
My concern for her eases. “In that case, no, I’m not setting up Ruby with anyone. Come on, Madi.”
“Not like find her a date,” she says. There’s a pause. “Maybe a little like that.”
“Have you suffered any hard hits to the head recently?” I ask.
“No, but I’d very much like to hit some people very hard over the head,” she grumbles. “I can’t believe I’m about to lose my last chance at this bet. Unless . . .” The wheedle is back.
“Mads, seriously? I’m working on being a good friend to Ruby, but there’s zero chance I’m going to start setting her up with dudes.”
“In this case, you’d be facilitating, not finding her dates. I have a feeling you’re not going to want to leave her hanging when I explain the situation.”
I groan.
“Great! Knew you’d want to help. So here’s what happened . . .”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ruby
Tonight’s event is Pitch-a-Friend.
When Madison had given me a heads-up a couple of days ago that this is what she was planning for me, I had said no.
Very, very firmly.
“It’s so cool,” she’d said, following me around the condo and explaining it to me while I pretended she wasn’t there.
She’d finished, looking delighted with her idea. “What do you think?”
“You signed up to do a slide presentation for a bunch of strangers where you’re going to try to convince them to date me? And you thought I would be into this?”
“Peopleloveit,” she’d said. “I promise. A girl in my finance class was telling us about it and how much fun she had. Everything I could find was positive. Newspaper articles, forums, Yelp. Social media hashtags. All of it was good.”
“Maybe for people who like standing up in front of a crowd and being judged. What made you think I would be into this?”
“Because it’s such low stakes,” Madison said. “You don’t have to hype yourself like you do on an app or a blind date. No oneelse in the room is going to know if everyone or no one contacts you, so there’s no public rejection. It’s a mellow vibe because everyone there is supportive.Youget to watch all the pitches and see if anything speaks to you too. Worst case scenario is you get to hear me shower you with words of affirmation for three minutes straight, and don’t you deserve that?”
